Sustainable House Design

Introduction

There are several elements that can be
integrated into a new house design or retrofitted to existing
houses that will provide significant
improvements to the Ecologically Sustainable status of any
house.
The integration of these elements vary considerably in their
cost and benefit provided to the inclusion of the element into
the household
function. Four principle elements that provide the most significant
benefit from a sustainability perspective:

These pages provide a summary of ideas for property owners
to consider when building a new house, renovating an existing house. Several
of these elements can be easily retrofitted to existing houses without
undertaking any major building work. The integration of the following
Ecologically Sustainable elements are able to be applied for the full
range of domestic housing from the 10 hectare rural allotment down to
a 400m2 suburban block. House designs should incorporate
the very latest ideas about planning a home, with adequate space for family
activities while still providing private, quiet areas for mom and dad.See
also House Design and Home